Sept. 1, 2025

Harnessing Courage: Laura Bratton’s Journey Through Loss and Triumph

Harnessing Courage: Laura Bratton’s Journey Through Loss and Triumph

Laura Bratton shares her powerful journey of navigating sudden blindness, overcoming despair through grit, gratitude, and support. Learn how courage and compassion can transform even the most overwhelming losses into a life of purpose and strength.

Inspire Vision Podcast is broadcast on K4HD Radio (www.k4hd.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com).  

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This program is designed to provide general information with regards

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to the subject matters covered. This information is given with

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the understanding that neither the hosts, guests, sponsors, or station

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are engaged in rendering any specific and personal medical, financial,

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legal counseling, professional service, or any advice. You should seek

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the services of competent professionals before applying or trying any

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suggested ideas.

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At the end of the day, it's not about what

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you have or even what you've accomplished. It's about what

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you've done with those accomplishments. It's about who you've lifted up,

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who you've made better. It's about what you've given back.

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Thanzel Washington, Welcome to Inspire Vision. Our sole purpose is

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to elevate the lives of others and to inspire you

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to do the same.

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Laura, welcome to the show.

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Thank you, Thank you for the opportunity.

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You know I'm really excited about is because as I've

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watched your ten X talk, as I've kind of observed

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what's going on here, it fascinates me how many of us,

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if not all of us, at some point in time

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in our lives, face difficulties, and for some it's a

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little bit. For others it's major, and that was in

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your case major. And yet the response that we have

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to those difficulties is so varied, and it can either

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affect our lives in a negative way or it can

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affect our lives in a positive way. And I'd love

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for you to share your story with the audience and

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help them to understand what happened to you, and then

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we will get into the whole rest of the process.

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Yes, so it all started my first very vivid memory

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that I still can see in my mind's eye and

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just feel the emotion. I was a nine year old.

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I was in between second grade and third grade. It

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was during the summer, and I was sitting in the

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ophthalmology office in the examining room. I'd read the big

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e you know, all the letters that you're just read.

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My eyes were dilated, and I just assumed this is

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a normal yearly appointment. And what I can remember why

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I remember that appointment so clearly, is I was I

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was sitting in that chair. The doctor just rolled back

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kind of away from me, and he just looked over

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at my mom and he said, she has a major

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problem going on in her retinas, and it's not something

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that I'm qualified to address. I'm going to refer you

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to a retina specialist, and we've got to figure out

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what's going on. And I remember my mom's immediate reaction,

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it was, Okay, you didn't really start a new school year.

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I'm a teacher. She's already start third grade. We'll take

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good of that. Sometime during the father Christmas break and

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I just memory and pausing and then looking back at

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her and saying, no, you don't understand. This is a

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major problem. You're not going to lunch today. I want

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you to leave here and go straight to his office

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and he will be waiting for you. So that started

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a whole summer of doctor's appointments, blood drawn lab work,

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my bloods literally over the world, just trying to diagnose

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and figure out why is this healthy nine year old

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all of a sudden losing her vision. So that's the

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first memory I have of being aware in my mind

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something was going on. As a nine year old. Clearly,

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I couldn't process cognitively the magnitude of what the doctor

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was saying or how that would eventually affect me from

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then on when it did become real, when I did

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realize the severity and the difficulty of the incredible change

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was at the end of middle school. So between being

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nine and being fourteen, life was pretty normal. I had

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small accommodations as far as using some large print, but

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nothing major. So it's just again in my life. In

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my world, it was what it was I could see,

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and so it's just kind of okay, So only be

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my my normal, my reality. So then by the end

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of middle school, one day, I'm sitting in geography class

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and it was just your typical day as it always been,

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and the teacher said, all right, I'm going to put

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notes up on the board. I want everyone to write

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down the notes. And so I got out my notebook,

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got out of my pen, looked up at the board,

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and all I could see were these black blobs. It

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sort of looked like black shadows, just like black marks.

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There was no it wasn't any defined letters. So I

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looked at down on my notebook, I looked back up

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of the board, and still all I saw were those

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black blobs, those black kind of markings. So I looked

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at my neighbor the left and the right, and they're

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both writing down all these words. So in my mind,

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I thought, oh, well, maybe there's writing down the note

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the words they know we're studying, because that's not print

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up on the board. Then I leaned over to my

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neighbor and I said, how are you copping down the

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notes on the board. There's no print up there, there's

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nothing to write down, And without missing a beach, she

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leaned over to me and she said, Laura, the print

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is completely normal. What do you mean they're not letters

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up there. That's the that's our notes that were copping

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down like it's always I've dropped up in just sat

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back in my chair. And that's when that diagnosis as

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a nine year old became real and I realized the

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magnitude and difficulty that I was literally facing. In that moment,

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I just lost a significant amount of sight and from

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that point forward everything would have to be adapted, changed

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accommodations as I currently knew. Life in those up to

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those teenage years was completely changing. So that's the two

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memories that were most impactful. As I started to lose

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a significant amount of site.

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Wow, wow, and you know that that fascinates me, And

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what a traumatic experience. Even though you know you were

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going on and thinking, okay, I'm you know, still in

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middle school. Everything's fine, and suddenly there it is. So

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you know, as a young person in middle school, what

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what was your mindset and what was the initial experience

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you were having emotionally and intellectually and so forth.

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So my initial mindset, or my initial mindset and emotion

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was complete denial. Oh this is not that bad. Oh

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this is not gonna last that long. I'll just wake

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up tomorrow and have perfect twenty twenty site. It just won't.

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It won't be permanent. And I was trying to convince

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myself it wasn't going to last long. It was just

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a quick event that would last a couple of weeks

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and then I just move on with my life. So

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my first response was denial. Once that denial wore off

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and didn't last that long, the mindset was the mantra

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was I can't, I can't. I can't. I tried it,

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I prayed it, I said it. My belief was I

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don't have the strength as a teenager to make this

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huge adaptation and experience this traumatic change. I can't. So

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that mindset of I can't led to extreme depression, extreme anxiety,

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just constant panic attacks.

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And at what point in time I mean, how long

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did that last? And what was there a moment or

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was there just a gradual situation where you were able

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to slowly move out of that and how long did

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that take?

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Yes? And yes, So that did last for a while.

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So as I started high school and went through high school,

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I continue to lose a significant amount of the sight.

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So over that four year period, I pretty much ended

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high school with what I have now just light perception.

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So as I continued to experience measure vision walls again,

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it was that whole mindset of I can't. I don't

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have the strength to get through this. This is just

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too much, is just too hard. So it wasn't one

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moment where I just woke up and said okay, I

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can Okay, now I have to drink. There wasn't one

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major event that changed that mindset. It was a series

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and as you said, just a gradual change. What created

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that change, what empowered that change is the support around me.

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So what I mean by that, the whole time I'm

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saying and thinking I can't, this is too hard, I

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just don't have the strength. I just want to be

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a normal high schooler, a normal girl. My parents were

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treating me completely normal, while making the accommodations that I needed.

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Their standard for me as their daughter didn't change. They

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didn't start bidding me, They didn't start treating me less

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than or different from. I have one older brother. They

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didn't start treating me as like him one way and

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me another. He continued to treat me as his little

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younger sister, the normal little sibling rivalries and fights and

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arguments that didn't change. We still fought over the front

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seat and the normal like sibling stuff. The teachers around me,

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they just made the accommodations that needed to be made

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at school while still grading me the same way as

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all the other students. They didn't just give me an

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egg in all my classes because I couldn't see anymore. So,

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having that constant support around me, everyone around me was

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continuing to treat me as an equal human. I just

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couldn't see as well. So while I'm saying I can't,

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I can't, I can't, I don't have this drength, everyone

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else around me is not responding that way. So slowly,

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over time I started to change that mindset and think, humph,

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all right, so if they are treating me as a

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human with purpose, it is worthy that matters. That's an

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Maybe I can believe that way, maybe I could live

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that way. So those panic attacks that would last all

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day would decrease started to slowly decrease, and that anxiety

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got a little bit less. I got through one hour,

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and then I got through three hours, and then I

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got through a full day. So that's what I mean

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about it is a gradual process where I realized that

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I could continue forward because of the foundation that was

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around me telling me not through their words, but through

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their literal actions, you are so you and we're just

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going to move forward. My parents, would we just say again,

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not to their words every day, but just to their actions.

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We don't know the future, but day by day we

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will figure it out and continue forward.

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Wow. And you know what's fascinating to me you bring

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up such a an incredible point is the people that

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are surrounding us when we experience that can make such

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a difference in our life lives. And for the people

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that are listening that may not be going through something,

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but they have someone in their family or you know,

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in the relationships that is understanding. And I love how

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you know, Pitty wasn't there. They were just treating you

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supporting you. And what amazes me, quite frankly, is that

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the school was supporting you and accommodating you to that degree.

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And I assume at what point in time were you

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absolutely not able to see, not able to read, and

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had to use other methodologies in order to do that.

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Oh, that that definitely happened quickly in high school. So

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about high school, I could not read any print, how

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to do everything either in braille or audio. So that

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happened very very very quickly.

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Well, and it's amazing to me and wonderful that the

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school was willing to accommodate that and do that. And

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so as you think about that, now here you are

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now and you've written a book, and what brought that about?

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So two perspectives that brought that about. The First perspective

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was it was incredibly healing for me to sit down

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and take the time to write my experiences out, just

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to write out and get it down was incredibly healing.

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It was a source of empowerment for me. The reason

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it was so healing was because it made me realize

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and give me that perspective of incredible support that I

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did have where I just was taking that for granted

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because the moment was the moment. We were just all

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trying to survive the moment, keep going. Taking the time

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to stop and write the book while so moving forward

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in life gave me that perspective of gratitude of Wow,

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I am deeply grateful for the support I did have,

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and that support made all the difference in the world.

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That one perspective and then the other perspective was. Once

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I was through that initial traumatic adapting and transition, it

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was my deep passion to take the mindset that I

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had learned and share that with other people so that

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regardless of what their chain was, regardless of the traumatic

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transition that they're going through, even though it was totally different,

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the anxiety, depression, the grief, the uncertainty, the fear, all

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that's still the same. So I was passionate about being

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a resource that others could receive strength from as they

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went through their change.

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Well, and the book's name is harboring, I'm sure. Yeah,

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it's harnessing courage.

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Harnessing courage. Yeah, And the reason there's a very specific

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reason I named that book. So I received my first

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guide dog in between the end of high school before

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I started college and the harness is what is around

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the guide dog. And then the end of the harness

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is what the person who's blind hole. So there's the

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dog's walking forward. You were holding the harness. So the

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reason I named it harness and courage is because that

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physically held the harness, and that gave me the courage

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to move forward, to physically feel safe and have confidence

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navigating the world physically being safe. So that's the first

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reason I named it harness and courage. The second reason

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is every single day, even though I'm adjusted, even though

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I'm adapted, I still have to use that courage and

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choose to harness the courage as I move forward in life.

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So that there were two reasons for that name. It

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was very very specific, very deliberate that I named it

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harnessing courage.

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Well, and I love the word courage. Uh, you know,

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I've used that as I've as I've considered you know,

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personal transformation, and as we talk on the podcast about

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that and how important it is that as people are

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experiencing whether it's two degree that you have or and

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I say, this may be you know, similar degrees but

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different situations where they're just totally being affected by those

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imprints and experiences of their younger life and it takes

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courage to be able to move forward. If you finally

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had been able to become aware and doing so forth,

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and then you went on to college, you went on

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to get a master's degree. Can you share with the

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audience what that was?

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Yeah, so the reason so let me back up to

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the college and that's the reason for the master. So

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in college, I'm majored in psychology. Because my fault was

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because of my life experience. I want to tho this

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on psychology where I can again support people in that mindset,

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emotional health, healing experience. Then, towards the end of college,

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as I was going deeper and deeper in the psychology

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and I was reflecting on my own experience, I realized

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that the healing that I had experienced was not just

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on the psychology level. It was not just on the

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spiritual level. It was not just on a physical receiving

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a guide dog and have the courage to move forward.

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It was that constant flow between the mind, body spirit

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connection that came together to bring the healing. So it

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wasn't focusing on one aspect of my life. It was

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that constant balance of mind, body, spirit, So that's when

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and why I decided, once I had this degree in psychology,

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then I want to go pursue my Masters of Divinity,

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so I have that spiritual theological education that I can

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connect with the psychology. So because of my first experience

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and the healing that I found, that's the reason I

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connected those two disciplines well.

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And then you went on to develop and found a

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whole organization and talk a little bit about that and

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what you're doing in that organization.

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Yeah, So the organization and the book are completely connected.

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So in the book in Hearts and Courage, while I

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tell my story and my life experience, I tell it

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through the perspective of grit and of gratitude. So I

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talk about the grit that my family, my brother, the teachers,

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my community had around me to first support me so

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that I could eventually accept that grit for myself. Then

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at the same time as I shared writing the book,

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I became such aware of the deep, deep gratitude that yes,

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this has been very hard. Yes it has been incredibly

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difficult to grieve and move forward. Yet I am so

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grateful for what helps me navigate through the difficulty. So

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the book is all about my perspective, through the perspective

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of great and gratitude. So that's the organization. So what

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I do now is the professional speaker and coach all

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on empowering others as they navigate through change, and specifically

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I talk about how do you navigate through that change

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using grits and then also at the same time using gratitude.

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Well and with the with the organizations called it will

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be Global. Yes, you mentioned also that you coach. Is

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that coaching through your speaking or do you actually work

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with individuals through the organization to help them through these

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type of processes.

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Yes, that's individual. So the speaking is all speaking to

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groups two organizations, and the coaching is one on one

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work individually with people as they go through specific changes

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that I'm supporting them through that.

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Okay, so let's let's go through that process. And I

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know it's going to be very different. But one of

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the questions that just came to my mind, you know,

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you were really, in many respects, extremely blessed from the

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standpoint of you had that support not only not only

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from your family and your friends, but from the school

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and so forth. Yes, I would imagine that many people

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that you start to work with do not experience that

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support right right? How do you help them when they're

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not getting the type of support that you're experiencing. Because

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I can imagine someone is driving right now listening to

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this and going, I don't have any support. I'm going

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through all of this, but I don't have any support.

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So how do you How do you help those people

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that are experiencing that lack of support, at least in

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their own mind.

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So the first thing that I remind each person I

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work with is, let me be your support. If you

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don't feel that you have any other support as you

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go through this difficult change, you do have one person

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supporting you. You do have one person that believes in you.

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You do have one person that you know is going

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to be here helping you compassionately guiding you through the process.

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So that's one teaching that I make sure is very

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clear that they know they have that support in me

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as their coach. Then, balanced with that, at the same

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time as I remind them, I also get them to

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think about, Okay, if you feel like you don't have

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any support around you, where do you feel support? Is

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it through nature? Is it through pets, through animals, is

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it through music? Is it through art, Is it through reading,

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is it through exercising, journaling, Just giving them that perspective,

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that mindset of where do you gain that strength? So

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allowing that strength in the most difficult time to come

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from me as their coach, supporting them and also from

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that either situation activity that they do feel supported or

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energized by in their everyday life.

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Oh as as you work with them. Is there is

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there a general category of people's experiences. I mean, obviously

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yours was very, very difficult. Do you find that there's

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a variety of situations that people approach you with in itself?

357
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Is there a generality or is it very specific and

358
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very different? And what are they?

359
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It is very general. It's it's people they're having recent

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diagnosis that are very difficult. So on that physical level,

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it's a lot of people experiencing loss, either a loss

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of a relationship or a death of a loved one,

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or a loss in a major job. So it is

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a lot of people. A lot of what I do

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is supporting people through the grief process as they go

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through loss, but it's very overall, it's very general. I

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work with a lot of athletes as they're just going

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through the difficulty and experience, injury and just the mindset

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of being a competitive athlete. So it's all across the board.

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Wow wow, And and how do you help them to

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begin to move forward as their experience And I, you know,

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I appreciate the fact that you're saying that this is

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mainly people who are experiencing a loss, and you're right,

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that is that happens for all of us, one way

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or the other. So what is how do you help

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them to move forward?

377
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So the very first step is acknowledging the difficulty of

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their situation. So rather than just instantly trying to move

379
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them to a place of okay, let's move forward, let's

380
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just figure this out. Let's move on, Jos taking the

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time and having the space to acknowledge the difficulty, to

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acknowledge if it's loss, to acknowledge that loss is really

383
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really hard and they don't want to move forward, or

384
00:24:34.240 --> 00:24:36.759
the loss is really really hard and they don't know

385
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how they're going to move forward. So just or if

386
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it's is not a loss, it was just a significant

387
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change Jos taking the time for me as the coach

388
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to hold that space for them where they can just

389
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sit in the pain, they can just feel the sadness.

390
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They can hold space while they cry, while they feel angry,

391
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whatever the emotion be, just giving them time to acknowledge

392
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that because what I found. I'd say that because of

393
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what I found in my own life that, as I shared,

394
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my first reaction was that denial. I didn't give myself

395
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that time to just sit in the this is really

396
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really hard place. It was that instant I've got to

397
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move forward. I have to figure this out.

398
00:25:22.839 --> 00:25:27.119
Well, it's interesting you talk about the word denial, and

399
00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:31.480
you knows as you talk about acknowledge, it's like so

400
00:25:31.680 --> 00:25:36.039
often I think so many people either deny or they resist, Yes,

401
00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:39.160
the actual thing that's happening. And when they do that,

402
00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:43.880
from a psychology standpoint, when they do that, what's happening

403
00:25:43.920 --> 00:25:46.200
to them When they're experiencing the denial, they're experiencing the

404
00:25:46.200 --> 00:25:48.160
resistance to whatever is is going on.

405
00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:53.799
Yes, that is preventing us from moving forward. Because I

406
00:25:53.839 --> 00:25:57.160
was in that denial. I wasn't able to move forward

407
00:25:57.680 --> 00:26:01.680
because I was in the complete denial of actually what

408
00:26:01.720 --> 00:26:06.759
was happening. So again that's why, from my own perspective,

409
00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:11.799
helping people to realize you don't have to resist or

410
00:26:11.920 --> 00:26:14.680
be in that denial. You just can be in that

411
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place of acknowledging the hard of acknowledging it is what

412
00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:22.079
it is. And what a lot of people tell me.

413
00:26:22.119 --> 00:26:25.960
The feedback I get from most people is the fear

414
00:26:26.119 --> 00:26:29.720
of if they acknowledge the difficulty, they're afraid they're going

415
00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:32.680
to get stuck there forever and that they won't be

416
00:26:32.720 --> 00:26:33.559
able to ave forward.

417
00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:37.440
Yeah, and do you find that they find themselves in

418
00:26:37.519 --> 00:26:41.400
the victim mode where that can be very, very traumatizing

419
00:26:41.519 --> 00:26:43.799
to be yes, So it's.

420
00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:46.839
Not what I find more than the victim is they

421
00:26:46.839 --> 00:26:51.799
feel overwhelmed by the severity of the change. It almost

422
00:26:51.880 --> 00:26:56.680
is like they're drowning in the frustration, the anger, the

423
00:26:56.720 --> 00:26:59.759
overwhelm of the future, and they feel like they're drowning

424
00:26:59.799 --> 00:27:01.680
that out And so they're going to drowned in that

425
00:27:01.839 --> 00:27:05.519
emotion forever and they're never going to be able to

426
00:27:05.519 --> 00:27:07.119
come up for air and move forward.

427
00:27:07.680 --> 00:27:11.599
So as they acknowledge emotionally, what is what does that

428
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:16.920
do for them? Is they acknowledge their situation honestly, and

429
00:27:17.400 --> 00:27:19.440
what's the next step once they do that?

430
00:27:20.119 --> 00:27:23.680
So once they acknowledge it honestly how they're feeling, then

431
00:27:23.799 --> 00:27:28.240
that gives them the power to control their mindset, to

432
00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:32.480
control their emotions. So, no, they can't control the loss.

433
00:27:32.680 --> 00:27:36.640
No they can't control the change that's happening. What they

434
00:27:36.759 --> 00:27:41.880
can control is their response to it. So my next step,

435
00:27:42.039 --> 00:27:46.640
after they've sat with the difficult emotion is that's where

436
00:27:46.640 --> 00:27:52.200
the grit starts, and it's the grit of taking it literally,

437
00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:56.400
moment by moment, day by day. So I help people

438
00:27:56.519 --> 00:28:00.720
in that mindset, what can you control at seven o'clock

439
00:28:00.759 --> 00:28:03.440
in the morning when you first wake up, What can

440
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:06.400
you control at eight thirty? What can you control at ten?

441
00:28:06.920 --> 00:28:09.519
All you have to do is make that one phone

442
00:28:09.559 --> 00:28:13.039
call that's really difficult, or send that one email that

443
00:28:13.079 --> 00:28:17.519
you're afraid to send. So taking the whole picture of

444
00:28:17.559 --> 00:28:21.440
the magnitude of what they're going through and breaking it

445
00:28:21.519 --> 00:28:25.640
down to moment by moment, step by step so that

446
00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:29.480
there's more mental control over their emotions and their mindset.

447
00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:33.839
And you know that fascinates me. You you talked about

448
00:28:33.839 --> 00:28:38.319
how you started to ultimately realize as you experienced, is

449
00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:43.480
that there's a there's a correlation of body, mind and spirit.

450
00:28:43.880 --> 00:28:45.920
I'd love for you to expand on that a little

451
00:28:45.920 --> 00:28:48.519
bit because I think that's really important for people to

452
00:28:48.599 --> 00:28:53.400
understand that they're never alone, and there is that whole correlation.

453
00:28:54.119 --> 00:28:57.279
So what I found is as I was in that

454
00:28:57.359 --> 00:29:02.680
intense anxiety and depression and I didn't realize how I

455
00:29:02.720 --> 00:29:06.160
was holding my body, that I was constantly tensing my shoulders,

456
00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:11.039
I was constantly tensing my muscles. I was constantly had

457
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:14.240
that like pit feeling in my stomach. So there was

458
00:29:14.279 --> 00:29:19.759
a real physical reaction in my body. Actually, the I

459
00:29:19.839 --> 00:29:23.519
was holding my muscle so tight that I was having

460
00:29:23.599 --> 00:29:27.640
sharp pain in my left shoulder blade, and so I

461
00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:30.079
it was so bad I had that physical the doctor

462
00:29:30.279 --> 00:29:35.440
ordered physical therapy for it. So my emotional reaction was

463
00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:39.839
causing that physical reaction in my body. And at the

464
00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:43.759
same time, on a spiritual level, I was asking all

465
00:29:43.799 --> 00:29:47.319
those questions, do I still matter? Do I still have

466
00:29:47.519 --> 00:29:52.359
purpose in the world, Do I still have gifts? What's

467
00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:56.160
why should I even move forward? Is it even worth it?

468
00:29:56.720 --> 00:30:00.240
So that's what I mean about the mind body connection

469
00:30:01.160 --> 00:30:06.160
is so prevalent. And then as my mindset started to

470
00:30:06.359 --> 00:30:09.680
change and I shifted to that mindset if I can

471
00:30:09.920 --> 00:30:14.759
in that place of healing and accepting who who I was,

472
00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:18.039
I realized I don't have to be so tense in

473
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:22.599
my body, I can relax my muscles. I can relax

474
00:30:22.880 --> 00:30:27.599
and have better sleep at night. I can incorporate exercise

475
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:30.319
into part of my day, and the exercise is going

476
00:30:30.359 --> 00:30:35.119
to help me physically and also emotionally. And then as

477
00:30:35.160 --> 00:30:40.359
I experienced that change mentally and physically, I started to realize,

478
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:45.960
oh yeah, spiritually I do matter. I do so I'll

479
00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:50.359
still have gifts. I still am enough. I just can't

480
00:30:50.400 --> 00:30:53.400
see as well. So that's what I mean about that

481
00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:58.480
mind body spirit connection. Our mindset is connected to our

482
00:30:58.599 --> 00:31:04.119
body reaction, our spiritual reaction, and vice versa well.

483
00:31:04.160 --> 00:31:06.960
And as you've worked with people, and this gets to

484
00:31:06.960 --> 00:31:09.759
be interesting to me as I see people going through

485
00:31:09.759 --> 00:31:13.079
these type of transformations that you know, as you talk

486
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:17.240
about resistance, as you talk about denial h and how

487
00:31:17.279 --> 00:31:21.240
that can affect the body and what that does chemically

488
00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.279
to the body. Have you noticed as you started to

489
00:31:25.319 --> 00:31:28.400
work with people where they may also have a combination

490
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:33.400
of not only that experience and laws, but physically they're

491
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.119
not doing real well or they're having some specific issues.

492
00:31:37.559 --> 00:31:39.759
And as you work with them as they come through

493
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:44.640
that process, do you see that their health improves or

494
00:31:44.680 --> 00:31:49.359
those physical situations go away.

495
00:31:50.519 --> 00:31:54.880
So what I find is that has people move from

496
00:31:55.039 --> 00:31:59.440
acknowledging the laws, moving forward from the laws, just changing

497
00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:03.400
that mind said, incorporating mindfulness into their every day. As

498
00:32:03.480 --> 00:32:07.400
they work on that mindset and motions, they just have

499
00:32:07.559 --> 00:32:11.200
overall better help. They go to their yearly check up

500
00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:16.240
and their blood work is completely different and improved from

501
00:32:16.359 --> 00:32:20.279
last year. It's they don't have that desire to eat

502
00:32:20.400 --> 00:32:23.680
a bunch of junk food. They want to eat that healthy,

503
00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:29.599
whole foods. They they're not just exercising because I know

504
00:32:29.680 --> 00:32:31.880
it's something I have to do and I'm forcing myself

505
00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:33.319
do and I don't want to do, and I can't

506
00:32:33.319 --> 00:32:36.559
feel a difference. But they're exercising, and then all of

507
00:32:36.599 --> 00:32:40.920
a sudden, they're experiencing the weight loss, the muscle gain,

508
00:32:41.079 --> 00:32:47.720
the sleeping better, They're experiencing this physical benefits and healing well.

509
00:32:47.799 --> 00:32:50.759
And you know what's interesting to me is we talked

510
00:32:50.759 --> 00:32:54.480
about suffering, and certainly here we are talking about your

511
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:58.200
experience and other people's experiences where they really experience that suffering.

512
00:32:58.200 --> 00:33:02.680
And yet you're talking about how as they developed that grit,

513
00:33:02.799 --> 00:33:06.440
as they developed that courage, as it developed the gratitude

514
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:11.519
that and acknowledge what's going on that in some way

515
00:33:11.759 --> 00:33:16.720
that starts to diminish the suffering you're experiencing.

516
00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:23.200
Yes, yes, and I was one thousand percent in my experience. Yes,

517
00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:28.759
the difficulty, the frustration hasn't gone away. I'm still a

518
00:33:28.920 --> 00:33:33.240
person without sight in the sided world. Yet everything that

519
00:33:33.319 --> 00:33:38.039
you just said, my mindset, just my spiritual world, my

520
00:33:38.599 --> 00:33:43.920
mental world, the physical it all helps ease the suffering

521
00:33:44.480 --> 00:33:47.359
and make that suffering less and less and less. So

522
00:33:47.400 --> 00:33:50.880
it's not that the suffering is no longer there, it's

523
00:33:51.000 --> 00:33:54.119
just I know how to manage the suffering.

524
00:33:54.039 --> 00:34:01.839
And therefore you don't suffer as much. Yeah, that's interesting. So,

525
00:34:02.319 --> 00:34:05.039
you know, as you talk about gratitude, because I know

526
00:34:05.119 --> 00:34:08.519
that's an important thing, I think you know, I personally

527
00:34:08.599 --> 00:34:12.719
experienced difficulties sometimes being grateful for whatever is going on

528
00:34:12.800 --> 00:34:16.400
here and there. Yeah, let's expand a little bit on gratitude.

529
00:34:16.559 --> 00:34:19.920
And as you talk about gratitude and as you help

530
00:34:20.000 --> 00:34:22.559
people to develop gratitude, what do you find are the

531
00:34:22.639 --> 00:34:26.320
obstacles and what do you find helps them and what

532
00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:28.880
are the things that they really need to focus their

533
00:34:28.920 --> 00:34:29.599
gratitude on.

534
00:34:30.239 --> 00:34:33.039
So let me first there a story of how the

535
00:34:33.079 --> 00:34:38.519
whole gratitude experience started for me because I wasn't feeling

536
00:34:38.559 --> 00:34:41.800
grateful right Like, I wasn't grateful to become blind. I

537
00:34:41.880 --> 00:34:46.119
wasn't grateful to have that depression anxiety. I wasn't grateful

538
00:34:46.199 --> 00:34:49.440
to be a teenager. That wasn't the same as all

539
00:34:49.559 --> 00:34:52.199
my other friends. I didn't feel like there was going

540
00:34:52.239 --> 00:34:56.519
to be grateful for. So in high school, a mentor

541
00:34:56.519 --> 00:34:59.320
of mind said to me, or, I want you to

542
00:34:59.360 --> 00:35:03.519
start writing down three things that you're grateful for. At

543
00:35:03.519 --> 00:35:05.079
the end of each day, I want you to write

544
00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:09.320
down three things that you're thankful for. They be people, situations.

545
00:35:09.880 --> 00:35:13.400
Just start doing that. Well, in my mind, thankfully, I

546
00:35:13.440 --> 00:35:17.480
didn't say this, but in my mind, my response was, Okay,

547
00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:21.800
you're not a good mentor because I've just lost my sight.

548
00:35:22.280 --> 00:35:25.960
I'm depressed, I'm anxious, I'm overwhelmed. I have nothing to

549
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:30.000
be grateful for. That's just not good advice, don't I

550
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:33.519
don't like that. In my stubbornness, I said, Okay, I'm

551
00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:36.880
gonna proofer wrong. I'm actually gonna be her mentor. I'm

552
00:35:36.880 --> 00:35:39.239
gonna change the table here and I'm going to be

553
00:35:39.320 --> 00:35:42.400
her mentor and teach her. That's just not good advice

554
00:35:42.519 --> 00:35:45.639
to give to someone in the midst of that change.

555
00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:49.760
So the one day became three days, three days became

556
00:35:49.880 --> 00:35:54.239
seven days, the week, one week became three weeks, and

557
00:35:54.280 --> 00:35:59.480
I slowly realized what my mentor was teaching me. I

558
00:35:59.559 --> 00:36:04.559
resist that gratitude because I thought she was saying, I

559
00:36:04.599 --> 00:36:07.800
want you to be grateful for the blindness. I want

560
00:36:07.840 --> 00:36:11.320
you to be grateful for the suffering. I want you

561
00:36:11.360 --> 00:36:15.360
to be grateful for the difficulty. What she was teaching

562
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:18.840
me is I want you to create a mindset of

563
00:36:18.920 --> 00:36:23.599
gratitude where you're grateful for what helps you navigate through

564
00:36:24.320 --> 00:36:27.880
the change. So again, not waking up and saying, gosh,

565
00:36:27.960 --> 00:36:30.679
I'm so grateful to be blind, but to wake up

566
00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:33.320
and say, I am so grateful that in the midst

567
00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:37.760
of the suffering, I have parents who still are supporting

568
00:36:37.800 --> 00:36:40.880
me and doing whatever it will take to figure out

569
00:36:40.920 --> 00:36:44.119
this new world. I'm grateful to have a brother that

570
00:36:44.239 --> 00:36:47.880
still treats me like his little baby, younger, annoying sister,

571
00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:53.119
you know, and still does those normal sibling interactions. I'm

572
00:36:53.199 --> 00:36:57.039
grateful for the guide dog that helps you navigate the world.

573
00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:00.960
So that's how gratitude started for me. It wasn't because

574
00:37:00.960 --> 00:37:04.239
I was thankful for the blindness. It was because that

575
00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:09.159
mentor helped me to create that mindset that made me

576
00:37:09.320 --> 00:37:14.440
grateful for what helps you navigate through the change. So

577
00:37:14.760 --> 00:37:18.119
that's exactly the gratitude that I work with, both through

578
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:21.920
the speaking and through the coaching, is helping others to

579
00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:26.280
develop that perspective of you know, we're not grateful for

580
00:37:26.360 --> 00:37:30.039
your change, we're not grateful for your loss, but I

581
00:37:30.079 --> 00:37:32.400
want you to be grateful for what helps you get

582
00:37:32.559 --> 00:37:38.199
through the laws through the change. So that very clear distinction.

583
00:37:38.960 --> 00:37:42.559
Well, and you know, it's amazing how that brings about

584
00:37:42.719 --> 00:37:47.000
a change of mindset to the point where then not

585
00:37:47.039 --> 00:37:49.880
only that experience, but anything else that's going on, if

586
00:37:49.880 --> 00:37:53.679
they've got that mindset of gratitude, they're no longer they're

587
00:37:53.719 --> 00:37:57.599
no longer at the effect of these situations, but rather

588
00:37:57.719 --> 00:38:00.360
they are actually in control.

589
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:03.840
In control absolutely, And the gratitude is what we can control.

590
00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:07.159
We can control the mindset of being grateful for what

591
00:38:07.280 --> 00:38:08.119
helps us through.

592
00:38:09.039 --> 00:38:11.440
Well, that's lovely, and hey, this has been just an

593
00:38:11.480 --> 00:38:15.199
amazing experience for me to listen to you and to

594
00:38:15.239 --> 00:38:18.760
have you share your experiences and as we as we

595
00:38:18.840 --> 00:38:21.840
come to a close. Number one, I'd like for you

596
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:24.880
to share how the audience can find you and get

597
00:38:24.920 --> 00:38:25.480
your book.

598
00:38:26.400 --> 00:38:29.400
So the best place is my website. So Laura Bratton

599
00:38:29.440 --> 00:38:32.400
dot com has all of the information about the speaking,

600
00:38:32.599 --> 00:38:34.559
the coaching in the book.

601
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:37.400
Okay, and again, what's the website.

602
00:38:37.159 --> 00:38:40.679
Laura Bratton dot com. So my name is b R

603
00:38:40.800 --> 00:38:41.119
A T.

604
00:38:41.400 --> 00:38:46.199
T O N. Right. Okay, great, and so as we close,

605
00:38:46.320 --> 00:38:49.800
what would be a final message that you would like

606
00:38:49.920 --> 00:38:51.199
to share with the audience.

607
00:38:51.880 --> 00:38:55.280
The message is, in the midst of change, when you're

608
00:38:55.360 --> 00:39:01.119
navigating through change, give yourself the self compassion to acknowledge

609
00:39:01.119 --> 00:39:04.760
the change and then choose to move forward moment by

610
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:08.639
moment by moment and trust and know that you're enough.

611
00:39:09.559 --> 00:39:13.559
That's wonderful. Laura, thank you so much. This is just

612
00:39:13.639 --> 00:39:17.360
as I say, been enlightening and I appreciate it so much.

613
00:39:17.880 --> 00:39:20.719
Well, thank you for the opportunity for creating this platform.

614
00:39:21.239 --> 00:39:24.760
Well, and thank you and folks, thanks for listening. I

615
00:39:25.360 --> 00:39:27.440
know that you're getting something out of this, and I

616
00:39:27.480 --> 00:39:29.480
hope that for those of you that need a little

617
00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:35.119
bit more that you can contact Laura and literally see

618
00:39:35.239 --> 00:39:38.599
read a book and get some help because we all

619
00:39:38.639 --> 00:39:42.519
go through this We're not alone. We all go through

620
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:45.519
these experiences and to be able to have someone that

621
00:39:45.599 --> 00:39:49.440
can help guide us through these experiences is magic. So

622
00:39:49.719 --> 00:39:52.360
once again, Laura, I can't tell you how much I

623
00:39:52.400 --> 00:39:56.800
appreciate what you're doing and acknowledging that, and secondarily, folks,

624
00:39:56.800 --> 00:39:59.239
hope you'll join us again soon. So this is doctor

625
00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:09.320
Doug saying no mistayd do to repair